AN: So last chapter turned out to be fun, even if it seemed a bit too much of Ho Yay between Ash and N. Though then again it was inevitable; N does have one-sided feelings for him which was already made clear earlier.

Truth and Ideals Chapter 54:


The morning was calm, tranquil, as everyone was, for the most start, just beginning to awaken. N was slowly feeling himself wake up as he looked at his surroundings; still the unfamiliarity of Ash's bedroom, meaning the pleasant night he had last night wasn't a dream after all, he thought. What caught H's attention, though, was the sweet, flavorful smell of something cooking downstairs.

"Hmm?" N murmured as he slowly moved awake, as he hadn't even changed clothing when he had fallen asleep on Ash's bed. Getting up and looking around the room, N took the moment to get himself familiar with Ash's household, as he opened the door and began to walk downstairs to see what was going on and what that smell was.

It turns out, obviously enough, that Ash was cooking breakfast for everyone again; Raichu was already hungrily eating sweet, fluffy, and buttery pancakes as several plates full of them were already prepared in advance for Raichu. N smiled as he looked over towards the happily eating Raichu, but nearly flinched and panicked when he saw Altair turn his way.

"Huh?! N?!" Altair exclaimed, all the while Iris and Misty immediately woke up on the couch and looked over towards where N was standing, Iris and Misty looking towards N not with anger, but rather, surprise; true, they had a reason to be angry towards him, but they questioned how he had even gotten into the house as to why they weren't so far.

"Yes… Yes it's me, Regulus." N said, as Altair stuttered a bit as he stood there and watched as N walked past him, still sleepily at that, as Altair was completely baffled by what name N had used for him.

"… R-Regulus…?" Altair asked as he was completely confused as to why N would mistake him for his own dad. "N, hold on, I'm not Regulus; I'm Altair!" Altair spoke up as he looked towards N as he noticed how calmed down he was all of a sudden. With Altair's eyes briefly glowing gold and closing as he scanned the auras of everyone in sight, everyone in the direct vicinity had a blue aura, as Altair calmed his nerves upon realizing that.

Ash, busy cooking breakfast for everyone, was just finishing up cooking for everyone in the household. As Ash noticed Misty and Iris approaching him quietly without even having to look at them, Ash asked, "Something wrong?"

"Well… er… not quite… but why is N here?" Iris asked.

[Same.] Misty texted.

"It's complicated to begin to explain, so how's about we wait to discuss it until after breakfast, okay?" Ash answered.

As Samurott was resting the living room, Zoroark, disguised in his human form even though practically nobody was buying it at the moment, looked towards his self-proclaimed rival with interest.

"He's certainly grown far stronger than I expected… Is he possibly related to that one Samurott I had known from when I was so young over a century ago?" Zoroark remarked, mostly to himself as he questioned about Ash's Samurott's origins.

That was when Delia had a walk out of her bedroom to look around.

"Good morning Ash, Misty, Iris, and- Oh… Oh dear… Who might you be?" Delia was greeting before taking notice of N in the room, all the while N stuttered a bit.

"N-N… The name's N." N said with a faint blush, mostly from embarrassment, all the while Delia chuckled a bit.

"So you're the mysterious 'Hero of Truth' I've been hearing about, huh? I was personally expecting someone older."

"NOT IN THE MOOD, MOM!" Ash yelled out as his aura had flared up only to be calmed down immediately when Misty and Iris both pecked each of Ash's cheeks on time for him to calm.

"Then… Who is he, Ash?" Delia asked, as Ash remained calm once he had finished cooking breakfast for everyone, serving everyone else first, as well as giving his ever hungry Raichu another serving of pancakes, as he waited until everyone else was eating first before he himself would begin to eat afterwards.

Once they were done eating, Ash had filled Delia, Misty, and Iris on the situation regarding what N had been doing up until this point, and why he was here now. Cheren and Bianca had come on over by this point, and had listened to Ash's explanation as well. While Cheren still had some small anger towards N in him, Bianca was at the very least accepting of N's presence here.

"As much as I hate to admit it… But if you believe N's no longer up to anything bad, then I'll be fine with him being with us…" Cheren answered.

"As well I." Bianca said, rather simply.

"Same for the two of us as we had already mentioned." Iris answered for both herself and Misty. Ash, meanwhile, couldn't help but notice something with Bianca and Cheren.

"Uh, guys… I'm confused; did Bianca steal Cheren's glasses for herself?" Ash had asked, as Cheren immediately went red from embarrassment as Bianca giggled.

"My eyes were becoming a problem more than they were beforehand, so I had to get glasses and I had asked if I could get the frames identical to Cheren's old ones." Bianca said, as Cheren was still flustered.

"A-And I… er… gave her my old frames as I ended up getting laser surgery on my eyes." Cheren pointed out, as Ash nodded.

"I see…" Ash mentioned, as he noticed how N was mostly standing by the large window and counter in the living room. He noticed how N seemed rather lost and distant from the others, as if he had no clue as to how to act normal around everyone.

"Hey, N, it's alright if you come over here with us and have a seat." Delia spoke over towards N, as N looked over towards her as he mostly stayed put.

"I'm fine; it's just I'm watching Samurott and Zoroark fight since apparently Zoroark had made some form of promise with Samurott." N said, as he looked back out the window to see how it was progressing…

Samurott was on one side of the field, as Zoroark was on the other side. As Zoroark jumped into the air and created numerous illusions of himself as he had navigated the terrain, Samurott was quick to fire Ice Beam in repetition towards the numerous doppelgangers, before Zoroark suddenly rushed in from behind and slammed Samurott hard with his huge mane, as if it had functioned like a tail.

"Not bad after your intense training, youngster." Zoroark spoke, as he had transformed back into his human form as he watched as Samurott still tried to rush him with his seamitars, as Zoroark used his hands and gestured them in specific ways to deflect each of the individual strikes. As Samurott was beginning to tire out, he fired an Ice Beam directly in Zoroark's face and seemingly froze him solid.

Zoroark, as cunning as he'd ever be, had simply tricked Samurott with an illusion, and was moving in from behind to attack, his claws glowing a fierce black and red…

… Just as Samurott proceeds to give a literal sucker punch to Zoroark by jabbing him in the side with the blunt edge of his seamitars. As Zoroark was caught heavily off guard, he moved to stand as he was practically dazed from the attack.

"N-Not bad… You're stronger now than I thought you would be by this point…" Zoroark spoke, as he chuckled a bit as he retook his human form again, all the while Samurott sheathed his seamitars and gave a bit of a smug smirk towards Zoroark.

"Don't get cocky with me; you've still got a long life ahead of you to further train yourself." Zoroark had mentioned, as both he and Samurott moved to walk back towards the house.

"So… N… Now that you're no longer affiliating yourself with Team Plasma… What are you intending on doing now?" Cheren asked N, as N looked rather confused as his expression was rather calm and collected, but otherwise uncertain.

"I don't know… All I do know is that they'll probably be out to get both Ash and I in one way or another…" N spoke up, as Cheren sighed.

"I figured as much…" Cheren said as he moved to stand and walk towards the doorway, moving to walk outside to get some air. N blinked, as Ash was confused.

"Where are you going, Cheren?" Ash asked, as Cheren looked over towards him and the others and sighed.

"I… I'm going to need to get some air for a while… Okay?" Cheren said, as Ash and the others nodded.

"Take your time, Cheren…" Ash told him, as Cheren nodded and began to walk outside into the cold, taking his time to walk out towards the coastal part of the town.

As Cheren was walking by himself, he was quiet as he thought about the entire situation so far; N was now going to be traveling with them, and now he didn't know whether or not it would be a good or bad thing. Cheren stayed calm as he had casually walked towards the coast, sighing a bit heavily as he brought out a Poké Ball, before calling upon and sending out Serperior from her Poké Ball.

Serperior only gave a calm, quiet hiss towards Cheren, as Cheren sighed as he looked around.

"I… I just feel so weak at times, you know?" Cheren spoke towards Serperior. He had silently wished he had the ability to understand her like how N did.

"I'm not sure whether or not anyone else had noticed it or not… but every time I shown myself in the battlefield, I was often the first to make the wrong move in battle; the first whose Pokémon weren't all that strong compared to the others…" Cheren said, as he looked towards Serperior.

"You have a form like the other two that I'm not aware of yet, don't you? I mean… Iris has a Mega Latias, as Misty is beyond my caliber with her Primal Kyogre... so even with Virizion on my team, why do I feel so weak compared to everyone else?" Cheren asked.

{Well… what do we have here?} The voice of one of the Genesect could be heard breaking the silence, as it landed on the ground in front of Serperior with a loud thud, as the cyan cartridge on its back made it clear which one this was.

As Serperior attempted to attack with a barrage of leaves heading Geneglacia's way, but the Paleozoic Pokémon was quick to jump backwards through the air, before aiming itself to face lower as a shot infused with ice energy fired upon the area where Serperior was.

Serperior was quick to dodge with her immense factor in speed, all the while Cheren's heartsoul energies boosted to power up Serperior with, all the while Geneglacia kept moving to dodge Serperior's various attacks, as Geneglacia constantly glassed the battlefield with Techno Blast, scoring immense damage against Serperior as she eventually lay in the snow unconscious, all the while Cheren had nearly fallen over trying to continue his drive further.

As this was taking place, he looked on in horror as he realized his own words were being put to the test, as Serperior was slowly trying to budge as Geneglacia marched forward towards her.

{It's too late for you now, Serperior… Just give up; that's what the boy's sister did.} Geneglacia muttered towards Serperior, as the tenseness of the movement caused Cheren to go cold all of a sudden with those words.

"What… What?" Cheren asked.

{Oh? You didn't know of that? I could've sworn you were on the scene in my failed attempt to learn poison jab at this very spot all those years ago.} Geneglacia suddenly stopped to just casually tell that to Cheren, all the while Cheren's gaze was becoming more serious as his anger was increasing.

"… What?!" Cheren questioned again, noticing this particular Genesect's stupidity as his heartsoul energies began to skyrocket in strength.

{Oh, right, silly me; I killed some poor kid's younger sister while I was attempting to search for another kid who I was told to kill ages ago. I dunno, I feel like I'm forgetting something…} Geneglacia spoke as Cheren was shuddering with anger now, as he had recalled the memory of his younger sister who had perished in this very town due to something poisoning her.

"WHAT?!" Cheren shouted at Geneglacia, all the while his heartsoul energy exploded into a flurry of energy particles around himself, as Serperior's strength increased as she slowly moved to stand.

{Yeah that's right, wasn't that you who was her brother? That was freaking weird.}

"THAT'S IT, SO NOT FEELING UP TO IT RIGHT NOW!" Cheren said as the ground before him shattered as his heartsoul energy had amplified in intensity, revealing leaves and blades of grass that had begun to emerge from the snow as a flurry of leaves and blades of grasses spiraled up into the air around Serperior, before she became encased in a greenish glow before emerging again as a teal and purple, more frilly and oddly colored transformed state, as Serperior emerged from the cloud of leaves as what would be obviously known as Warlord-Serperior.

{… Say what now?}

"SUNNY DAY!" Cheren ordered, as Warlord-Serperior raised her head up into the sky, as the sun began to shine downwards onto her, all the while Geneglacia panicked and went back to trying to blast Warlord-Serperior with Techno Blast, as the icy shots hit Warlord-Serperior only for the shots to melt upon contact.

{WHAT THE?!}

"Now, Warlord-Serperior! Eternal Light!" Cheren called, as from the more frill covered head of Serperior, a bright, intense sphere of light charged and encased her head, as she took aimed towards Geneglacia and fired an immensely large, powerful beam of fiery, explosive energy out towards Geneglacia.

{OH YOU MO-} Geneglacia tried to say as it didn't even consider the idea of dodging the attack and ended up taking the full brunt of the attack, becoming engulfed by the fired blast of energy as the beam of energy continued further and expanded from firing point, all as the beam was so large and bright that it had appeared almost all across a good portion of this particular side of the planet.

… All the while Solgaleo was standing on a rocky crag towards the look of the blast from Warlord-Serperior, scanning the power from the attack with its visor-like eyes, as Solgaleo determined what course of action to take.

Eventually roaring up into the heavens, its roar echoed across the sky as Solgaleo took off and made a charge along the rocky plains it was located at, running off towards whatever destination it had in mind…

… As the attack calmed down in intensity to the point of stopping, Warlord-Serperior looked ahead of herself as she noticed how Geneglacia was more or less, from what she and Cheren could tell, completely and utterly vaporized from the full force of the attack.

"W-Wow…" Cheren muttered as the amount of heartsoul energy he was utilizing at that moment had caused both himself and Warlord-Serperior to pass out, the latter returning to her normal form as Bianca was on the scene and grabbed hold of Cheren as he was about to hit the snow, moving to carefully and quietly lift him up and carry him back home, all the while Emboar grabbed the weakened Serperior and carefully carried her back with them as well.

As Geneshine was watching the entire incident from afar, Geneshine scouted the range of the beam attack up ahead to try and search for something.

{PRICK! Damned fool caused Geneglacia's power core to get knocked immensely out of range!} Geneshine muttered in frustration as he looked up ahead towards the area of affect, before transforming back into its aerial mode and flying off into the distance to investigate what exactly had happened.

A few days would pass as the group was resting in Nuvema Town; now that resting was over, the group was preparing for takeoff, with Misty and Iris mounted on Mega Latias, Cheren and Bianca mounted on their Braviary, as N and Ash were astride Reshiram and Zekrom respectively.

"Stay safe now you guys!" Delia called to them as she waved.

"Don't do anything reckless while you're away!" Don, Felix, and both of their wives said in unison.

"Don't let Drayden's attitude get to you next time, alright?" Burgh called towards the group as he had waved. After goodbyes were done, Braviary took off into the air first, followed by Mega Latias, and then Zekrom and Reshiram took off last as the avian and three Dragon Pokémon flew across the sky as the group was headed back towards Mistralton City.

"So do you think N will be alright with actually handling how we behave?" Cheren called towards Ash, as Ash nodded.

"If he's endured everything so far, I'm pretty certain absolutely nothing will faze him next." Ash reassured Cheren, as N remained quiet still.

'I just sincerely hope I can save my sisters; I just sincerely hope they're alright…' N had thought, as all four flight capable Pokémon flew across the vast expanse of water and back towards the mainland Unova, with the Mistralton City Gym being the Nuvema Trio's next overall goal.

To Be Continued…


AN: Okay enough lollygagging, time to actually introduced Skyla officially and get started with the Mistralton Gym Arc for real this time; next chapter marks the ACTUAL beginning of the arc in question, as the group will be back in Mistralton City by then.